Commentary on transportation in Connecticut and the Northeast by JIM CAMERON, for 19 years a member of the CT Rail Commuter Council.
Jim is also the founder of a new advocacy effort: www.CommuterActionGroup.org
Disclaimer: his comments are only his own. All contents of this blog are (c) Cameron Communications Inc

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March 14, 2015

Malloy's Transit Land-Grab

Don’t
look now, but Governor Malloy’s trying to take your land, or at least control
of the land around your local train or bus station.

Proposed Stamford TOD Project

When
the CDOT recently tried to shove a private development down the throats of
Stamford under the guise of “transit oriented development” in replacing the
garage at the train station, city fathers were justifiably upset.They voted through a zoning change giving
them some say on the project, as well they should.

As
revenge Governor Malloy is now proposing a statewide “Transit
Corridor Development Authority” (TCDA) that would bigfoot the towns and
cities, giving the state control over land, buildings and development within a
half-mile of all transit stations.

Your
favorite coffee shop across from your Metro-North stop could be torn down and
replaced with offices.Parking lots
could be enlarged with fees set by the CDOT, not the towns where the lots
reside.If the state wants to erect a
building taller than local zoning laws allow, too bad… they can and will. As
one critic described it, this is “eminent domain on steroids”.

The
TCDA would be run by political appointees, a majority controlled by the
Governor and not answerable to the local residents whose land would be
affected.The agency could issue its own
bonds financed by rents and taxes on the very structures they want built. And
the agency would continue with this power forever, under “perpetual succession”.

The
TCDA would have the power to condemn property that it alone claims it needs to
further its goals.Town and regional
planning and zoning boards can just go pound sand, powerless
to stop them.

Because
train and stations are usually in the downtown of cities and towns, those
municipalities would lose control of the development destiny of their very core.The Governor’s bill would have us believe
that Hartford, or this new agency of political hacks, knows what’s best for us,
not our elected mayors and first selectmen.

It’s
been proven that the private developer chosen for the Stamford garage project
just happened to have donated
$165,000 to the State Democratsbefore and after his selection.Yet, there’s nothing in the Governor’s TCDA
bill (HB 6851) to prevent such “pay for play” activities.

Were
Dannel Malloy still mayor of Stamford he would scream bloody murder if a bill
like this was introduced in Hartford.But as Governor he seems to have no qualms at telling 169 towns and
cities in this state that he knows best… that Hartford will determine if
skyscrapers built by private developers should be plopped down in your town and
mine.

“Transit
oriented development” makes sense and should be encouraged.We all need to promote housing and commercial
growth focusing on our train and bus stations.But this is a local issue, not a state right.

If
we are to preserve the local identity and feel of our communities, we must stop
the Governor’s land grab and keep control of our destiny.Tell your State Representative and
State Senator you oppose HB 6851 and Malloy’s land-grab.

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Former NBC News director and anchor, now a professional communications consultant, JIM CAMERON leads workshops on media training, speech and presentations skills and preps clients for analyst briefings and legislative testimony.
Jim served for 19 years on the CT Metro-North Rail Commuter Council, is an elected member of the Darien Representative Town Meeting (RTM) and is Program Director of Darien TV79, his town's government TV station.